Wrecking Rams slam Braves, 56-14

Tri-Parish Times

The Acadiana High School Wrecking Rams proved their appearance in last year’s state title game was no fluke, defeating the H.L. Bourgeois Braves 56-14 in Bi-District playoff action in Lafayette Friday Night.

The Rams (9-2, 5-2) out gained the Braves (6-5, 5-1) 476-283 yards.

Acadiana Head Coach Ted Davidson said it was important for the Rams to go up early.

“We were fortunate to go ahead early and set them on their heels a bit,” Davidson said. “They are a pretty young team so I thought that if we’d get ahead of them, then we would have the advantage.”

H.L. Bourgeois Head Coach Randy Boquet said it’s hard to win and make mistakes against a good football team.

“This is not their first trip to the playoffs, they were in the championship last year, this is a championship football team,” Boquet said. “Tonight was one of those nights were they couldn’t do anything wrong and several times we couldn’t do anything right. I give them all the credit in the world.”

Things started off slow for the Braves from the very beginning.

Rams running back Jordan Figaro took the opening handoff 47 yards down to the Rams 47-yard line. Eight plays later, Figaro found the end zone from three yards out to put the Rams up 7-0 with 8:37 to play in the first quarter.

After forcing a Braves punt, the Rams took just two plays to increase their lead.

On a second and nine from the 22, Figaro went 78 yards and put the Rams up 14-0 with 4:30 to play in the first quarter.

The Rams defense stepped up again on the Braves’ next drive and forced another punt, giving their offense the ball right back.

This time, the Rams only needed one play, a 78-yard touchdown pass from Kip Jacob to Javinas Faulk, to increase their lead to 21-0 with 1:21 to play in the first quarter.

After another punt, the Braves’ defense stepped up when Kiamni Washington recovered a fumble a returned it 33 yards to narrow the deficit to 21-7 with 9:44 to play in the first half.

The Braves began to gain the momentum and forced a three and out, but the punt was muffed and the Rams recovered.

On the very next play, John Dean went 33 yards to put the Rams up 28-7.

Boquet said the muffed punt killed any momentum the Braves’ may have had.

“We felt like we were gaining a little bit of momentum,” Boquet said. “That really took the air out of us. We just can’t do that against a high quality football team.”

Davidson said the muffed punt took a lot out of the Braves.

“That was big,” Davidson said. “ It took a lot of wind out of their sails and we were able to finish it off.”

The Braves answered on their next possession, putting together a 10-play drive, which ended with a 45-yard touchdown run by Christian Williams. The extra point narrowed the lead to 28-14 with 3:24 to play in the half.

The Rams would respond with another one-play drive after a 45-yard strike from Jonathan Morvant to Jacob to put the Rams up 35-14 with 3:06 left in quarter.

After Braves’ quarterback Evan Ingram was intercepted by Anthony Johnson, Figaro scored from 30 yards out just two plays later to put the Rams ahead 42-14 going into halftime.

The Rams added two more scored in the second half, a 57-yard run by Figaro and a four-yard touchdown run by Terrance Sinegal to seal the 56-14 victory.

The Braves did win the first down battle 11-10 but lost the penalty battle, committing six for 84 yards compared to the Rams who had five for 25 yards.

Despite the loss, Boquet said he is not going to bet down on his spirits.

“I’m not going to let tonight dampen my spirit and the spirit of the football program,” Boquet said. “We have come a long way in the years we have been there and I’m very proud of my kids and our football program.”

With the win, the Rams must now travel to Shreveport to play Byrd, who defeated John Ehret.